Human Genome Project and its current and future applications

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December 14 , 2006

Current and Future Applications

of the Human Genome Project

Solomon , Berg and Martin claim that genomic science - the analysis of an organism 's complete sequence of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA ) - will have a worldwide effect on health by increasing knowledge of genetic susceptibility and the body 's responses to infectious diseases (Solomon et al 2 . Study of this fundamental part of human existence has brought about countless arguments both for and against the science on the basis of the

above mentioned health benefits and ethical reasoning Despite continued aggravation from some sects , the Human Genome Project has persevered and in 2000 the sequencing of human DNA was completed and published the next year based on the DNA from 6 to 10 unidentified people

Scientists are excited about the advances in genome research because they know that with the identification of individual genes and their effects on the human body , they will be able to pinpoint susceptibility to disease and mental characteristics . Since every human being is essentially programmed from their DNA , these codes hold the information necessary to provide an happier and longer life to anyone . Identifying genes associated with nondisease characteristics will make it possible to design pharmacological and perhaps even genetic interventions to enhance positive traits and eliminate or reduce those that are undesirable (Mehlman et al 40

In the last five years since the publication of the completed Human Genome Project , scientists in the mental health field have used the information to evaluate the state of mental illnesses . These researchers have been able to identify several genes that are responsible for common mental illnesses like schizophrenia , depression and Alzheimer 's disease (Andreasen 5 . With this information , scientists and health professionals are becoming able to scan for such genes before a baby is born and let parents know if the fetus is bound to develop a debilitating disease . This is starting to be the norm with diseases like Down 's syndrome , and scientists expect that mental illnesses and health issues related to aging will be pinpointed before birth in the near future

Where the elderly are concerned , scientists can use the Human Genome Project data to identify those diss that are brought on after years of dormancy within the genes . Arthritis , Alzheimer 's , dementia and a whole host of age-related diseases are encoded within the human DNA and scientists recognize that if they are able to isolate these genes the health profession can make great steps towards eradicating these conditions in the future . The aging process could be slowed and people would be able to live fully healthy lives for a longer period of time This means that the average life span would be increased and with the proper implementation of the research , we could look forward to healthier and longer lives with simple genetic engineering (Huerta 119

Citizens throughout the world are increasingly concerned about the ethical risks behind genetic engineering , however the benefits of the Human Genome Project cannot be simply cast aside . Although the work of sequencing human DNA has been accomplished now , scientists still are working towards the complete identification of all genes in the sequence and knowing just how many there actually are . Estimates have settled around 30 000 , each of these responsible for a particular feature of the human body and , ultimately , the human character . Future work on the human genome will focus on identifying each individual gene and its specific function within the body during different stages of growth and development

The advances made in the last five years of human genome research have basically served to add onto the basic framework that is the sequencing Scientists are recognizing specific genes responsible for different kinds of human characteristics and bodily forms - the more research that is done , the less it seems we are actually able to exercise anything even remotely like free will . Genes may be accountable for not only diseases like liver failure or cancers , diabetes and mental illnesses but things like spirituality and personality

Genes found on chromosome 22 have been linked to 27 different diseases that have a genetic component to the illness . Despite this concrete connection , scientists cannot locate the exact location of the specific genes nor can they say for certain what role each plays in the development of any of the 27 diseases , including schizophrenia . Further research will follow these promising discoveries and hopefully lead to the isolation of these genes and the ability to counter their effects or live without them entirely

The success of the Human Genome Project has allowed genome scientists to map out the DNA of other creatures and understand not only them as separate species but the ways in which they interact with our own species to cause ill health and disease . The genomes of the Plasmodium and Trypanosoma parasites - causes of malaria and African sleeping sickness in humans - have been published and the information is being used to understand how to vaccinate against the diseases . Down 's syndrome has been tracked down to the appearance of 47 chromosomes one more than in a person without the dis . Chromosome 21 is repeated in such people and therefore it is due to a genetic quality in the chromosome that a person will develop Down 's syndrome . With genetic study in this area scientists will be able to discover more about the disease and why the duplicated genes occur and what it is that they do to affect a person differently than another with only 46 chromosomes (Solomon et al 294 . The genes on this chromosome are being studied not only to combat Down 's syndrome , but to discover how they are related to several other mental illnesses . These genes have a connection with many mental diss and behaviors and scientists are working to discover just how these genes behave to affect such an array of diseases in the brain . This is a crucial development in science due directly to the Human Genome Project , since before genetic study researchers studying the brain and mental diss had to rely on physical evidence in the brain itself . Now such scientists can develop new theories and expand on established theories with the incorporation of genetic understand about why the brain develops the way it does

The research that excites scientists the most are the genome studies of non-human primates like Chimpanzees . These apes are our closest living genetic relatives , and with their DNA sequence compared with our own , we can take note of the differences and see where our own species began to change and differentiate itself from the apes . Evolutionary process can be identified with genetic studies and the Human Genome Project is the essential ingredient to advancement in the concept of evolution itself Whereas anthropologists and evolutionary archaeologists have been at a loss as to when humans developed the mental and physical language skills that set us apart from other species , geneticists could likely be able to help track these changes as research continues on the human DNA sequence

As for the Human Genome Project itself , the publication of this research has actually spawned several subfields of genetic study that could not have existed before human DNA was studied so closely . With every new field of understanding , scientists understand the need to specialize and advance research in ever smaller areas of study , and genetics is no exception . Current subfields of this science include bioinformatics , pharmacogenetics , and proteomics . Bioinformatics is also known as biological computing the storage , retrieval and comparison of DNA sequences within a given species and among different species (Solomon et al 294 . Pharmacogenetics focuses on the medical aspects of genetic information , while proteomics is the study of all of the proteins that are coded for within the human genome . These fields are all taking genetic study to a new level thanks to the Human Genome Project , and with specialized research in these fields scientists will be able to concentrate on the very concentrated amounts of information inherent in every strand of DNA . In particular , Pharmacogenetics is a field of study worth pursuing , and government controlled health bodies would be well advised to invest in the future of this sort of research Medical knowledge cultivated from genetic study is one of the only reasons that the average person is willing to let genetic study go forward , since it seems to balance out the uncertainty of ethical conditions of the science . Ethical risks have always been an issue in scientific research , no matter what the field , but geneticists have taken more than their fair share of criticism

As scientists continue to delve into the information provided by the Human Genome Project , they are looking for connections between our genes and everything that makes us human . Not just for medical purposes , but for the knowledge that comes of understanding what makes us what we all are as people what makes us similar and yet different from one another Dupre (70 ) makes the crucial point that science - be it genetics or biology or psychology - is all really a unified rationale of the entire world and universe that we can see and are interacting with on some level . Because of this underlying outlook , genome studies are not solely scientific in their endeavors , and neither are any of the other sciences

The Human Genome Project was in essence a way to look at the physical realities of being human , but in doing so it is a way to come to terms with what we each are made of , spirit or genes . The future applications of the Human Genome Project are already set in place scientists know just what results the research is capable of producing and they are more excited than anyone about the possibilities for medical science and even seemingly unrelated fields like philosophy . Fundamentally , however , the Project has and will continue to have a major impact on health issues of people worldwide

Works Cited

Andreasen , Nancy . Brave New Brain : Conquering Mental Illness in the Era of the Genome . New York : Oxford University Press , 2003

Dupre , John . Human Nature and the Limits of Science . Oxford , England Clarendon , 2001

Huerta , Michael and Stephen Koslow (eds . Neuroinformatics : An Overview of the Human Brain Project . Mahway , NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 1997

Mehlman , Maxwell . Access to the Genome : The Challenge to Equality Washington D .C : Georgetown University Press , 1998

Solomon , Eldra , Linda Berg and Diana Martin . Biology . Belmont , CA Thompson Brooks /Cole , 2005

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